A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture

by Clara Erskine Clement Waters

Thorwaldsen's place in Rome was a very important one, not only as an artist, but as a man. He had the respect and esteem of many good men of all nations; he also suffered some things from the envy of those who were jealous of him, as is the case with all successful men; but he was a fearless person, and did not trouble himself on account of these things. The frequent agitations of a political nature, however, did disturb him, and he began to think seriously of returning to Denmark. In 1837, when the cholera broke out in Rome, he determined to leave; his countrymen were delighted, and a government frigate was sent to take him home; he sailed from Leghorn in August, 1838. His arrival was hailed with joy in Denmark, and wherever he went his progress was marked by tokens of the pride which his countrymen felt in him. As soon as it was known in Copenhagen, on September 17th, that the "Rota," which brought the sculptor, was in the harbor, a flag was run up from St. Nicolas Church as a signal for the beginning of the festivities which had been arranged.

Although it rained heavily, boats filled with artists, poets, students, physicians, mechanics, and naval officers went out to meet him; each boat had a flag with an appropriate device, that of the artists having Thorwaldsen's Three Graces, the poets, a Pegasus, and so on. The meeting with his friends on the deck of the ship was a pleasant surprise to the artist, who was hurried ashore amid the firing of salutes and all sorts of joyous demonstrations, a vast number of boats rowing after that in which he was seated. His carriage was drawn by the people from the quay to Charlottenburg, where a vast crowd assembled to get a sight at him. His form was tall and erect, his step firm; his long white hair fell on his shoulders, and his clear eye and benevolent face beamed with intelligence and sympathetic interest in all around him. He was led out on a balcony, where, uncovered, he saluted the people, who greeted him with wild applause. Thorwaldsen smiled and said, "Would not any one think that we were in Rome, and I were the pope about to give the benediction urbi et orbi from the balcony of St. Peter's?"

One ovation after another followed, day by day, and such crowds of visitors went to see him that he was unable to unpack and arrange his possessions which he had brought from Italy, or to work at all, which was worse to him. At last he began to do as he had done in Rome, and to receive his friends with his chisel or modelling-stick in hand. He lived frugally, and continued many of his Roman habits of life; but he was forced to dine out every evening.

He was now sixty-eight years old, but he did a vast amount of work in one way and another, and was so pursued by all sorts of people who wished to engage his attention in a variety of projects, that he seriously considered the question of leaving Copenhagen. He became very fond of certain families where he visited, among which was that of the Baron von Stampe, who, with his wife and children, were soon treated by the sculptor as if they were his own kindred. He went with them to their summer home at Nysoë, and while there the baroness persuaded him to model his own statue. He did this imperfectly, as he had no suitable workshop; and when the baroness saw his difficulty in working in an ordinary room she had a studio built for him in a garden near the castle. She took the time to do this when Thorwaldsen was absent for eight days, and in this short space the whole was completed, so that when he returned it seemed to him like magic. This studio was dedicated in July, 1839.

He then began the proper modelling of his own statue, and was progressing very well when he received a letter from the poet Oehlenschlaeger, who was in great haste to have a portrait bust made of himself. Thorwaldsen felt that he ought not to make his own statue when thus wanted for other work, and he threw down his tools, and would have broken the model. But the baroness succeeded in getting him away, and locked the studio, keeping the key. However, no argument or entreaty would move the sculptor, and she could do nothing with him until she happened to think of crying. When she began to weep and to accuse him of having no affection for her, and reminded him of the proofs of her devotion which she had given him, he was taken in by her mock tears, and exclaimed, "Well, they may think what they like. My statue is not for posterity, but I cannot refuse it to a friend to whom it will give such pleasure." He then resumed his work, and completed his statue in seventeen days. He represented himself standing with one arm resting upon his statue of Hope.

After this summer Thorwaldsen divided his time between Copenhagen and Stampeborg, and worked with the same industry in one place as in the other. The life in the country was a great delight to him; he played games, listened to fairy tales from the poet Andersen, or to music from the young girls of the house, all with equal pleasure; and if he were allowed to have his mornings for work he would spend the rest of the day in the woods or pay visits, and was perfectly happy in this succession of labor and leisure.

Baroness Stampe did not stop at one trick upon the old artist, for she found it more easy to gain a point in this way than by argument. He had promised to execute a statue of Christian IV. for Christian VIII., the reigning king; he put it off until the king was impatient. One day, when he had gone for a walk, the baroness went to the studio and began a sketch in clay as well as she could. When Thorwaldsen returned he asked what she was doing, and she answered, "I am making the statue of the king. Since you will not do it, and I have pledged my word, I must do it myself." The artist laughed, and began to criticise her work; she insisted it was all right, and at last said, "Do it better, then, yourself; you make fun of me; I defy you to find anything to change in my work." Thorwaldsen was thus led on to correct the model, and when once he had begun he finished it.

It would be impossible to give any account here of the numerous incidents in the later years of the life of this sculptor; of the honors he received, of the many works he was consulted about and asked to do, of the visits he paid and received from persons of note; few lives are as full as was his, and the detailed accounts of it are very interesting.

He had always desired to go again to Rome, and in 1841, when the Baron von Stampe decided to go there with his family, Thorwaldsen travelled with them. They went through Germany, and were everywhere received as honorably as if he were a royal person: he was invited to visit royal families; court carriages were at his service; Mendelssohn gave a musical fête for him; in all the great cities he was shown the places and objects worthy of his attention; poets and orators paid him respect, and nothing that could be done to show appreciation of his genius and his works was omitted.

In Rome it was the same; he remained there almost a year, and upon his arrival at Copenhagen, in October, 1842, he experienced the crowning glory of his life. During his absence the Thorwaldsen Museum had been completed, and here, the day after he reached home, he was received. The building was decorated with garlands, and he went over the whole of it; at last he entered the inner court, where he was to be buried; here he stood for some time with bowed head, while all about him kept silence. Can any one fancy the thoughts that must have come to him? Here he must be buried, and yet here would he live in the works of his hand which would surround him and remain to testify to his immortal powers.